BERLIN (Reuters) – Austria’s economy could shrink by around 6% this year, the Austrian National Bank on Friday, striking a more optimistic tone than in early June, when it had forecast a 7.2% decline.
It said weekly real-time gross domestic product (GDP) data showed the Alpine republic’s economy was recovering faster than expected.
“As long as we avoid a strong second wave of COVID-19 infections, the collapse in Austria’s economy in 2020 could be less severe than had been expected in our forecast in early June,” the ONB said.
It warned that the risks related to the forecast for a 6% contraction remained clearly to the downside though.
(Reporting by Michelle Martin; editing by Thomas Seythal)
